“Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings."
Malachi 3:8 (NIV)
Imagine, you have a plan to organize a family party. You make a list of everything you will need to make the family reunion perfect, where everyone will be satisfied. An uninvited person shows up at your house in the middle of your budget calculation to ask you for money for his personal needs while he knows that this party is important for the whole family. Indirectly, it is a form of stealing because it is your project that is at stake. Your family will not have the opportunity to enjoy this good time.
That being said, it is the same feeling you feel that God also feels when, in his plan to take care of his church and the needy through those he has blessed, he sees them neglect to provide financial support to those who are in charge of his church. To rob God in this sense is to not bring tithes and offerings that will cover the expenses of the church and help ministers care for others.
However, when God emphasizes tithes and offerings, He is not asking you to bring all your money while neglecting your personal needs and those of your family. In fact, God defines tithing as 10% of your income. Offerings are what you choose to give to the church according to your means. In the Old Testament, tithing was based on the production of the land and goods. Bringing your tithe (10%) to the church does not satisfy a man, it is a direct response to God's command. Do not neglect it because you do not want to enrich your pastor, that would be robbing God.
May the grace and peace of God be with you all.
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